


Everything Has Changed

by dangerhumming



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Angst, Charming Family Feels, F/M, Feels, Gen, Kid!Fic, Multi, Rating is subject to change, Romance, minimal deaths, starts in 1st grade and every chapter is a new grade, young! everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-14
Updated: 2014-03-14
Packaged: 2018-01-15 17:38:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1313515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dangerhumming/pseuds/dangerhumming
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Emma struggles with math, she could not believe who would help her and how much that moment would change her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything Has Changed

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is a gift to Shannon (livelovefatedreampeacedance). The first chapter takes place when Emma is in first grade and every subsequent chapter is the next grade unless stated otherwise. This is going to be an in progress fic so any comments and kudos would be greatly appreciated. I own nothing. Let me know how you like it!

She was struggling with math but that was something no one must know. Everyone already pitied her for being an orphan and for her mean foster family, they couldn’t know how bad she was at math. There was no one at her table so she could not ask anyone for help without getting up and revealing her failure. She could feel the tears start to burn behind her eyes. She would not cry. Emma Swan did not cry. She focused her gaze back at the math problem before her with even greater intensity, letting her golden hair fall in front of her face as she bent low over the paper to hide her tears.   
  
The tears fell thick and fast, quickly spotting her paper. She attempted to discreetly wipe her nose on her much too large sleeve. It must have failed because not long after a boy sat next to her. She did not have many friends and none in math so there was no reason for him to sit next to her, unless it was to make fun of her and point out her tears for the amusement of the class. Emma only glanced up quickly, still trying to hide her tears and gauge his level of threat (how likely he was to tell the teacher she was crying).   
  
This boy had messy brown-black hair and bright blue eyes of a Disney prince. Emma knew he was the troublemaker of the class, even though she had only been in the class a few weeks. The other kids said he and his brother live with their uncle because their father died and their mother didn’t want them anymore. Emma wasn’t sure how much she believed them because they also said Emma was raised by wolves dressed in peoples clothing. She thought maybe they just repeated whatever their parents said so maybe there is some truth in their stories after all. Emma did not know the boy’s name, only that he liked to make trouble and he was really smart.   
  
The boy was staring at Emma. He didn’t even look away when Emma looked up at him again and whispered angrily, “What do you want?”  
  
The boy simply smirked and shrugged, “Nothing.”  
  
“Then go away!” She whispered harshly, bending her head even closer to the desk, where her tears made the paper impossible to write on.   
  
“Well...I thought you might like a bit of help.” The boy was very relaxed about how he said it. As if the shame of needing help was not a big deal, which it was.   
  
Emma glanced quickly around to make sure no had heard him. It was then she realized most of the other students had finished the worksheet and were now playing. No one was paying attention to them at all.   
  
“I don’t want your help.” Emma said as meanly as she could. She felt a little bad about hurting the boy’s feelings but no one could know. She had to do this on her own.   
  
“Well,” the boy said as he scooted his chair closer to her own, taking out a pencil as he went, “It is a good thing you can’t always get what you want. But sometimes, if you are lucky, you get what you need.”   
  
She had finally stopped crying and although her eyes remained puffy, she still managed to give him an intimidating look, that clearly said she wasn’t buying his crap.   
  
He waved his hand impatiently and said, “It is from a record my uncle likes to listen to when he has too much to drink. So, what do you need help with?”  
  
Her glare stayed through much of his explanation but surprisingly he wasn’t a bad teacher. He was patient, gentle when she got things wrong and explained how to make it better without being mean. He even on more than one occasion managed to get her to smile, even though she told him repeatedly he wasn’t funny. He was the first person who was kind to her without being fake, something she appreciated more than she could say.   
  
It was well into recess before they had finally finished. It didn’t matter though, it’s not like Emma had any friends who wanted to play with her at recess anyway. Her only friends were the two kids who rented the house next door and that is only because they also liked to escape their mean foster family. But she knew the boy had friends that he would rather be playing with. That made Emma feel sad.   
  
“M’sorry.” She mumbled as fresh tears began to form.   
  
The boy just blinked at her surprised. “About what? You didn’t do anything wrong. I mean, you may have cried a bit but everyone does that sometime or another. Don’t worry about it.”

  
He awkwardly patted her shoulder before moving on but Emma would not be derailed from her apology. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to play with your friends at recess because you had to stay and help me.”   
  
A muffled sob escaped her before she could reel it back in. She just felt so bad. Finally someone was nice to her and she had to go and ruin it all by being selfish, now he was never going to talk to her again and she was going to loose the only friend she may have had at school. She could not stop crying. She was crying for her goldfish, one of her only friends, that her foster family had flushed down the toilet while she was at school. She cried for the bruises that she wasn’t allowed to talk about and were hidden by baggy clothes. She cried for all the nice people she had to leave behind as she moved from school to school. She cried for the neighbor kids who sported worse bruises than she did. She cried for the boy who was so kind to her and she was just waiting for him to turn on her like all the others did. They all seemed nice but when it came down to it, they just wanted something from her.   
  
“Hey, hey. There, there.” The boy rubbed her back and tried to comfort her. “I didn’t want to go to recess today anyway. I would much rather help you.”   
  
He told her stories of his childhood as he kept trying to comfort her, until she cried herself out. He told her of all the times he and his older brother, Liam, got into trouble with both the school and their uncle. Of all their adventures, whether they were pirates or sailors or adventurers or like Indiana Jones (whoever that was) or spies and how they saved the world.   
  
It was at the end his tale of all his adventures, when Emma finally got up the nerve to ask him the most important question of all. “Are we friends now?”  
  
The boy looked very happy and relieved at her question. “Yes, I believe we are. That means you can ask me for help anytime because friends help each other, okay?”   
  
Emma nodded and replied, “I’m Emma Swan.”  
  
The boy stood and bowed, “Killian Jones at your service.”   
  
Emma stood as well and did her best curtsy. Killian made a face at her wobbly curtsy to which she replied, “Let’s see you do one better then!”  
  
He swept into a very elegant curtsy and didn’t even wobble a little bit. So, Emma did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at him. He smirked in response.   
  
The kids from recess had begun to wander back into the classroom, Killian quickly grabbed Emma’s hand and planted a kiss there before she could yank it back with a disgusted face. He smirked once more before heading off to his table.   
  
Emma did not smile until she had walked half way home and only then did she let herself break out into an enormous grin. She had a friend. Maybe this school wouldn’t be so bad after all.


End file.
